26 Nissan ● Parshat Shemini ● Birkat Hachodesh
SHABBAT SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, April 21
7:11pm
CANDLE LIGHTING
6:30pm
MINCHA/KABBALAT SHABBAT
SATURDAY, April 22
8:15am
RABBI’S GEMARA SHIUR
9:00am
SHACHARIT
6:30 pm
Pre-Mincha Shiur
7:15 pm
MINCHA
7:35pm
SEUDAH SHLISHIT
8:15 pm
MAARIV
8:15pm
SHABBAT ENDS
Chloé Simone
Valdary
Israel Advocate
Jerusalem U,
who will be speaking
immediately following
Services
Weekday Davening Times
Sunday April 23
Monday April 24
Tuesday April 25
RC Iyyar
RC Iyyar
Friday April 28
8:00am & 7:15pm
6:20am & 7:15pm
6:30am & 7:15pm
6:10am & 7:15pm
6:10am & 7:15pm
6:30am & 6:30pm
YOUTH GROUP SCHEDULE
10:00
10:50
11:10
11:15
12:00
Free play, games & books.
Parsha story & questions
Into shul to kiss the Torah
Circle time - davening, singing,
Shabbat songs & games.
Kids service ends
Zalman & Aviva Harari for sponsoring
Seudah Shlishit to commemorate the
yahrtzeit of Aviva’s father, Jacob Fisher,
Yaakov ben Israel z”l, whose yahrtzeit
occurred on 23 Nissan, April 19th.
~Save The Dates~
April 29th—Teen Minyan
May 2nd– Yom Haatzmaut Israel Night
May 6th—Scholar-in-Residence Rav
Yosef Rimon, and Kiddush
Luncheon sponsored by Mark &
Amy Kestenbaum
May 13th– Scholar-in-Residence Judy
Klitsner
May 20th—Extended Kiddush Sponsored
by Yonatan & Devorah Bryant
April 21-22, 2017
Dearest Members and Friends,
It is in an axiom of the American national narrative that in 1776, citizens of the thirteen
colonies of the union declared themselves independent of Great Britain, freeing
themselves from the control of the British monarch, George III, and his government of
pompous, autocratic aristocrats. The Revolutionary War that accompanied the formal
severance of ties with Great Britain resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, and both
sides in the conflict spent huge sums of money to secure victory.
Ultimately, when the dust had finally settled, it was the American patriots who had
won the day, partly due to French military support, but principally as a result of the
widespread revulsion across the colonies for British arrogance, and the blatant insensitivity to the needs
and concerns of the colonists they sought to control.
Although this narrative is the one that is widely embraced, it actually fails to take into account a
powerful truth that undercuts it completely, namely the emergence during the 1780’s of a powerful
group of legislators, known as the Federalists, who sought to reunite the United States with Great
Britain, and to ditch republican democracy in favor of a monarchical system, or at least a system far more
similar to the one they had just repulsed than the one represented in the lofty ideals of the Declaration
of Independence. At the head of the Federalist group was Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the
Treasury, who counted John Adams among his many avid supporters, while George Washington -- who
remained largely aloof from partisan politics -- was also broadly sympathetic to the Federalist cause.
Opposition to the Federalists was led by Thomas Jefferson, the brilliant Virginia-born polymath who
single-handedly wrote the 1776 Independence Declaration, and who was utterly devoted to the
republican cause. Believing that the future of universal freedom depended on a system which allowed
everyone to have a voice, not just a bunch of self-important legislators and rich people, he refused to
bow to Federalist pressure, even after the republican-inspired French revolution turned sour and
produced the infamous Reign of Terror, casting plausible doubt upon the very new democracy-for-all
experiment.
The pivotal moment for America came after the presidential election of 1800, when Jefferson beat
Adams, but tied with Aaron Burr, his choice for vice-president. According to the peculiar constitutional
rules then in place this meant that either of them could be named president. The Federalists preferred
Burr over Jefferson, their avowed enemy, and did everything in their power to ensure that Burr secured
the top job. Ultimately, Jefferson prevailed, in what would become known as the “Revolution of 1800”.
What makes this revolution far more remarkable than the one in 1776 was not that Jefferson beat
Adams in a bitterly fought election, nor that he unpredictably prevailed against the Federalists and their
British patrons. Rather it is the fact that this was the first time in recorded history power passed from one
group to another without anyone being killed or imprisoned, despite the great mutual enmity between
the parties involved, and the profound disagreements that characterized their ideologies. There is no
doubt that the year 1800 was the year true democracy, and the benefits it offered to ordinary
individuals, was born.
This second American Revolution strikes me as an extremely important, if overlooked, historical
example of the phenomenon of one momentous transformative event needing to be followed by
another in order for the first to be truly consequential. Our own history as Jews began with exactly with
this sequence, with the Exodus from Egypt of a slave nation into freedom, followed seven weeks later by
the revelation at Mount Sinai, and the gift of God’s Torah for the nascent Jewish nation. The first
‘revolution’ only became meaningful once the ex-slaves had internalized their freedom from human
oppression and their direct involvement with God, both individually and collectively.
Once identified, this dual-revolution phenomenon is both observable and obvious throughout history.
Nevertheless, it seems curious, to say the least. Why are first revolutions never enough to effect a
permanent break with the past? Why would American colonists who had suffered under the yoke of
British tyranny and misrule ever have contemplated a return to anything remotely connected to British
governance? Why would Jews emerging out of a Red Sea that had miraculously split to save their lives,
and that had also drowned their oppressors, not immediately be ready to receive the Torah? Why does
one need a second epiphany to perpetuate the first?
It is often the case that the ecstatic emotions that accompany a transformation from one reality to
another are dampened and overshadowed by the challenges emanating directly from the
overwhelming success of that transformation. The elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is not
actually as glittering when encountered close-up. All of a sudden, the fleshpots of Egypt (or of Great
Britain!) seem rather more attractive than they did before the celebrated moment of redemption. It is
only once this anticlimax has been experienced, and then overcome, that the true revolution can take
place, shattering the psychological bonds with the past once-and-for-all.
The second revolution is actually the final act of the first. That is why we count the days between the
first day of Passover and Shavuot, the festival that commemorates receiving the Torah. That is why this
period of “sefirat ha’omer” is considered similar to the intermediate days of the Passover and Sukkot
festivals, as we recall in real time the period that separated the first revolution and the second. And,
possibly, that is one of the reasons why this period in our calendar is not a happy one, as we struggle to
find our feet in our newfound freedom and liberty. Although, as long as we stay focused on the
consummation of the initial redemption through the Mount Sinai revelation, we can be sure to shake off
the shackles of Egyptian slavery, so that our Pesach freedom brings us into God’s Shavuot embrace.
Wishing you Shabbat Shalom and a wonderful week ahead,
Rabbi Pini Dunner
Sisterhood Corner
The Sisterhood proudly presents the following upcoming events!
*See flyers for additional info
MAY
Yom Ha’Atzmaut Israel Night
Tuesday evening, May 2 at 7pm
Israeli movie, “Beneath the Helmet”
Popcorn and Israeli Bites!
YINBH Social Hall
Put it on your calendars!
JUNE
Our long-awaited Sisterhood Tea!
A chance to schmooze and get to know your
Sisters!
Thursday evening, June 22
The Samuel Home
805 N. Camden
More details to follow
Shabbat Shalom !
Cecile & Ruthie
Sisterhood Co-Presidents
Shiur for Ladies
Alex Dorfman
Tzvi ben David Hacohen z”l
Father of
Steve Dorfman
Yahrtzeit— 26 Nissan
Esther Rubinstein
Esther bat Mordechai
Yaakov a”h
Mother of
Simon Rubinstein
Yahrtzeit—29 Nissan
Al Turner
Avraham ben Yitzchok z”l
Father-in-law of
Harry Finkel
Yahrtzeit—1 Iyyar
EXPLORING HALACHA
Join Nati Baram every Shabbat
afternoon
45 minutes before mincha
as he explores an interesting topic
of Jewish law
with the aid of ancient and
contemporary texts.
Uri Dunner
George Schaeffer
Jaime Sohacheski
Laurie Spencer
The weekly Parsha Shiur
will be resuming
Wednesday, April 26th
at 8:30am
Paul Feder z’’l
Gemara Shiur
Join Rabbi Dunner
for his weekly
Gemara shiur on
Shabbat morning
at 8:15am.
‫לע''נ פנחס אליהו בן‬
‫שמשון הלוי‬
Rabbi Pini and
Sabine Dunner on
the engagement of
their daughter
Shoshana Dunner
to Zion Gahn, son of
Yitzchak and
Malka Giahn of
Fresh Meadows,
New York.
Upcoming Scholars-in-Residence
Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon
Shabbat, May 6th
After the great Success of Rav Rimon’s Pre-Pesach
Shiur...he will be joining us again as the Scholar-inResidence on Shabbat, May 6th.
Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon is a prolific author of Halachic books which
reflect his unique approach, taking the reader from the sources to
the practical application of Halacha in our modern reality. Rav
Rimon is Founder and Chairman of the Halacha Education Center
which develops innovative educational curricula for Jewish studies,
using cutting edge technologies, in Israel and abroad.
A popular lecturer, Rav Rimon teaches at Yeshivat Har Etzion and
Migdal Oz Girls Seminary and is frequently invited by communities
in Israel and North America. He also serves as the Rabbi of Alon
Shvut South in Gush Etzion.
As Founder and Chairman of JobKatif, Rav Rimon was awarded the
President's Prize for Volunteerism in 2008 and the Moskowitz Prize
for Zionism in 2014. The organization helped thousands of Jews
from Gush Katif to rehabilitate their lives through employment.
In 2015, Rav Rimon was appointed the Rabbinic Head of
Jerusalem College of Technology and Head of its Batei Midrash.
Judy Klitsner
Shabbat, May 13th
Judy Klitsner is a senior lecturer at the Pardes Institute of Jewish
Studies where she has been teaching Bible and biblical exegesis
for more than two decades. A disciple of the great Torah teacher
Nechama Leibowitz, Judy has had a profound impact on a
generation of students, many of whom now serve as teachers and
heads of Jewish studies programs in the US, the UK, and Israel.
In her teaching and in her writing, Judy weaves together traditional
exegesis, modern scholarship and her own original interpretations
that are informed by close readings of the biblical text. She lectures
internationally at synagogues, campuses and adult education
programs that span the denominational spectrum, and she holds a
visiting lectureship at the London School of Jewish Studies.
Judy’s teaching style is lively, interactive and text-based, and she
is particularly fond of uncovering the “vibrant conversation” that
takes place between the Bible’s parallel stories. Judy Klitsner is the
author of Subversive Sequels in the Bible: How Biblical Stories
Mine and Undermine Each Other. The book received a National
Jewish Book Award in 2009.
Who matters in your life?
Celebrate someone you love or commemorate the Yahrtzeit of a
departed loved one.
Kiddush……………………………………...$500
Kiddush with Cholent……......................$650
Kiddush w Cholent & Sushi………….….$775
Seudah Shlishit…….…..$360
Siddur………………..…….$50
Chumash……………..……$75
Extended Kiddush……………………......$1250
Kiddush Luncheon………………………...$3000
Please contact the shul office
for details and to find out
what weeks are available
FIND OUT ABOUT SPONSORING TEFILLA
NOTEBOOK! Contact Office for Details.
YOUR NAME HERE
Why not sponsor one of our weekly Tefilla Notebooks in memory of a loved
one, or to celebrate a birthday or anniversary?
Email or call the office for details 310-276-7650 [email protected]